This invention pertains to endless belt conveyors and in particular to endless belt conveyors adapted for sortation of articles.
In facilities for the receiving and sorting of articles, particularly parcels, packages, and letters, conveyors of various types are provided as part of the sorting system. If an endless belt type conveyor is provided, there will frequently be provided various destinations or discharge stations for packages along each side of predetermined conveyor belt path. Each discharge station may correspond to a particular zip code, for example. Conventionally, sortation of packages is performed by manually removing packages from the belt and placing the packages onto discharge stations.
There are known side-discharge conveyor systems which use a track, formed into a closed loop, to support and guide a series of connected carriages. A tiltable tray is conventionally mounted on such carriages for tipping to either side at sort locations. Such a system is disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,982,828, to Nicolson, et al. However, such systems have a number of disadvantages. The initial cost of constructing the track for such a system is very high. In addition, such systems have numerous mechanical parts, which makes the systems prone to breakdowns as a result of wear on such mechanical parts. Such systems, unlike endless-belt conveyor systems, occupy floor space for a return track. As floor space is typically at a premium in sorting facilities, the need for additional space is a disadvantage of such a system.
There are also known side discharge assemblies which include a belt assembly for supporting a flexible belt, and a member provided for local lateral tilting of the belt assembly. Such a conveyor assembly is disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,461,378, to Roth. Such a system, like the systems employing carriages on a closed loop, requires a substantial initial investment. In addition, such a system has a large number of moving parts, which are prone to breakdown as a result of mechanical wear.
Flexible belts designed for side discharge of bulk materials cannot effectively perform sortation tasks. Furthermore, such belts cannot discharge articles from both sides alternately.
Endless flexible belts have already been installed in numerous existing article sorting facilities. Manual sort techniques are conventionally employed to remove articles from such belts. Consequently, it is desirable to provide an apparatus that provides automatic side discharge with a minimum cost in replacing existing hardware associated with endless-belt assemblies. It is further desirable that such an apparatus not require a carriage or track, and further that the sortation function be carried out by the belt itself.
In any article sorting operation, gentle handling of the articles is important to minimize damage and breakage. Consequently, an apparatus that provide minimum impact of articles is desirable.
It is desirable to minimize the noise of a sortation apparatus, even at high speeds.
It is an object of this invention to provide an endless belt type conveyor apparatus having a sortation capability.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a endless conveyor belt, for use in an article conveying and sorting system, which affords the capability of providing sortation with a minimum of mechanical parts.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a conveyor-belt type article sortation system where all moving parts are incorporated in the belt.
Additional objects and advantages of the invention will become evident from the detailed description of a preferred embodiment which follows.